POWAY  In Poway, many of the traffic signals have two sets of buttons for people to push when they want to get across an intersection. The first set are chest-high, for pedestrians; the second set are much higher, perfect for a horseback rider to access.

Poway’s motto is “The City in the Country” and it has always prided itself on being a horse-friendly community.

But local equestrians are up in arms over plans recently approved by the City Council that would allow a popular horse stable in the center of the city to be replaced with a new subdivision of 12 estate-style homes.

Last week some of the people who board their horses at the stable, Poway Valley Stock Farm off Tierra Bonita Road, filed a lawsuit challenging the council’s decision. On Tuesday, the council is set to discuss the lawsuit in closed session, before the regular council meeting begins.

City Manager Penny Riley said the closed meeting is only to advise the council about what’s going on and that there will be no reportable action coming out of it.

On Aug. 20, Stock Farm owner Harry Rogers and associate John Fitch sought the council’s approval to subdivide four lots — two that contain the 100-horse boarding facility and two that hold one home each. The lots total 11 acres.

By a 4-0 vote, the council agreed with the subdivision plan, saying that because the Stock Farm is in a residentially zoned area, Rogers has every right to do what he wants with the land as long as he abides by all city zoning codes. (Councilman Steve Vaus, the cowboy hat-wearing councilman who boards a horse at the Stock Farm, abstained from the decision.)

The council also adopted a Mitigated Negative Declaration, meaning an environmental impact report would not be required before the project could proceed.

That’s what the lawsuit is going after.

“The city failed to properly analyze the project before it approved it,” said attorney Julie Hamilton who represents a group called Preserve Poway. She said the group is an unincorporated association made up of people who board horses at the farm, have children who board horses there, or have previously boarded horses there.

“It’s grossly inappropriate for this project,” Hamilton said about the site.

The lawsuit lists numerous reasons why the council’s decision was faulty, including that the council’s intention to declare a negative declaration wasn’t properly noticed; that the council failed to consider the project as a whole; and that the project could cause “substantial environmental damage,” partly because Rattlesnake Creek runs through it.

The lawsuit also said the proposed project fails to provide for safe evacuation of adjacent properties in the event of a wildland fire, and that it will cause significant impacts on community character.

During the council meeting several people spoke about losing the “country” in the “City in the Country,” a popular sentiment often expressed for decades whenever a development is being considered in town.

Hamilton was quick to say that the lawsuit is not being funded by the Poway Valley Riders Association, (PVRA) which operates a rodeo grounds and equestrian center across the street from the stables.

Some speakers at the council meeting suggested that the elimination of the Stock Farm could negatively impact the PVRA and the annual Poway Rodeo.

Hamilton said if the council decides to rescind its decision and orders an environmental impact report be prepared, the lawsuit will become moot.

The action the council took last month was only to approve the subdivision. Rogers and Fitch would have to come back before the council later for approval when they have definitive construction plans developed.